Grip for cable railways



(No Model.) v

H. OASEBOLT.

GRIP FOR CABLE RAILWAYS. No. 349,479. Patented Sept. 21, 1 886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY CASEBOL'I, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

G RIP FOR CABLE RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,479, dated September 21, 1886.

' Application filed April 15, 1886. Serial No. 198,953. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY CASEBOLT, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grips for Cable Railways, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a cable-railway grip embodying my improvement.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of the grip,and showing one of the plates E removed. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are details to be hereinafter referred to.

My invention relates to certain improvements in that class of grips which are adapted for cable railways for the purpose of connecting and disconnecting the car to which the grip is attached with a moving cable, said grip extending through a slot into a tunnel or tube in which the cable runs and grips or releases the cable to move or stop the car.

My invention consists in the peculiar construction and combination of elements whereby a simple and effective grip is obtained, as

' I shall hereinafter describe and specifically claim.

To enable others skilled in the art to, make and use my invention, I will now describe its construction and the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the drawings, A represents the outside or stationary bars of the grip, made preferably in one entire piece, with adouble-notched surface on its upper portion, forming the oppositely-arranged ratchets a b, as shown.

Across the bars A, about midway their lengths, extends the cross-bar B. for securing the grip to the car, which may be done in any suitable manner, although I prefer a construction substantially as follows: Within the slotted ends a of the cross-bars B are secured by pivots 2 a suitable yoke, d, which incloses within its slotted head the elliptical springs 6. (See Fig. 3.)

Suitable angle-iron plates, f, pass upon the outer sides of the springse and have their inner adjacent ends secured by the yoke d, while screws 5 pass through the upper and lower ends of the plates f and through the tie-plates whereby the several parts are firmly secured to each other and to the main cross-bars B. It will be observed the angle-plates f have extensions 6, which, in the construction of the car, are designed to pass between the main sills of said car, whereby the springs e and attachments become the carrier or bearing for supporting the weight of the grip. At the same time the pivoted connection between the yoke and main cross-bar permits the necesary lateral play. It is evident the arrangement of these elliptical springs between the main sills of the car is such that when said car is started or stopped these springs form a yielding bearing, and thereby relieve the grip of the strain that would otherwise be brought upon it, as Well as the usual annoying jolting incident to starting and stopping.

The stationary bars A have secured to their lower ends the upper jaw or clamp, D, of the gripping device, which may be of any wellknown construction, and so arranged that its grooved die, which bears against the upper surface of the cable, may be readily removed, in the event of its becoming worn or injured, and a new one inserted.

Between the stationary bars A is located the sliding bar E, which is formed in one piece, its lower portion being extended transversely to form arms II, inwhich are mounted the horizontal rollers h, which carry the cable. To the transverse arms II is secured the lower jaw, J, of the gripping device, it being located directly beneath the upper jaw, and is provided with a grooved die for engaging the lower surface of the cable, thereby forming with the said upper jaw a complete grip for said cable. In addition to the rollers h, the transverse arms II are provided with vertical flanged rollers 70, which serve to diminish the friction of the cable, and also prevent said cable from chafing against the bars A, said rollers being operated by levers and connections herein shown, but not claimed, as they forma part of the subject-matter claimed in my application, Serial No. 196, 449, file'd March 25, 1886.

In addition to the means before described for preventing the cable chafing the bars A, other means must be provided for overcoming the friction and wear on that portion of the stationary bars which runs in close proximity to the sides of the slot in the tube through which the grip passes. Therefore I secure to the sides of the stationary barAplates m and n,

the latter being. preferably C-shaped, so that their outer ends inclose a lip or tongue, Z, proj ecting from thehighly-tempered steel plates G, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The sides of these plates Gmay project slightly beyond the line of the stationary bars, so as to prevent said bars from being chafed by the sides of the slot, and their lower ends are secured between the projecting ends of the plates at by screws or bolts, which, in conjunction with the plates 11, firmly secure blocks G, and permit their ready re moval when it is desired to replace them With new ones.

The devices for causing the jaws to approach or recede from each other and the means for holding the several elements in their adjusted positions I will now describe. To the upper portion of the stationary bars A are firmly bolted curved plates L, the upper surfaces of which are provided with rounded notches 8 and 9, located upon opposite sides of the vertical center of said plates, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The lever M is the lever foroperating the gripping-jaws, and it is so mounted upon the grip that it may be readily detached, for a purpose I will also hereinafter describe. The lower portion of the lever M is bifurcated for a considerable portion of its length, so that it may pass upon both sides of or straddle the upper notched end of the stationary bars, and within this slotted portion is pivotally secured a pawl, N, which engages the ratchet-teeth and holds the lever in its adjusted positions. The pawl N is 0011- nected to a lever, 0, by a link, whereby the pawl may be raised from engagement with the ratchet-teeth. A spring, r, connects the rear end of the pawl N with a stud or pin, 8, projecting from the main lever M, and serves to hold said pawl against the ratchet-teeth. The main object to be gained by the use of this removable lever M is that it permits the operator on the dummy to always move the lever in a direction opposite to that in which the car travels; therefore the operator has a clear unobstructed view of the roadway. To make this point more clear, I would state the lower portion of the lever is hooked and provided with semi-elliptical or cam-shaped slots 12, which are engaged by pins 13 and 14, projecting from both sides of the upper portion of the sliding bar E, while other pins, 15, project from the lever and engage the notches 8 or 9 in the curved plates L, thereby forming a movable fulcrum on which the lever turns. From this description of these parts it is manifest, the lever being in the position shown in Fig. 1., with the gripping-jaws apart, a downward pressure upon said lever will cause the hooked ends to engage the pins 13 on the movable bar E and draw the lower grippingjaw against the cable, the leverage obtained being more than sufficient to bring the necessary bite upon the cable. When the car completes its trip and is about to return, the operating-leverM is lifted from its connection with the pins 13 and notches 8, and is reversed, so that the I am thus enabled to provide a grip simple I in its construction, effective in its operation, and one in which many beneficial results are obtained.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a gripping device for cable railways, of a removable and reversible operating-lever, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with the stationary and movable bars of a cable-railway grip, of a de tachable lever having a movable fulcrum on the stationary bars, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, with the stationary jawbearing bar having notches in its upper surface, of the movable jaw-bearing bar having projecting pins 13 and 14, and a removable lever having a loose bearing in the notches in said stationary bar, substantially as herein described.

4. The combination,with the stationary jawbearing bar and the plates L, having notches upon each side of the vertical center of said plates, of the movable jaw-bearing bar having pins 13 and 14 projecting transversely from both sides of its upper surface, a detachable lever having a hooked end adapted to engage the pins 13 and 14, and provided with pins 15, which have a loose bearing in the notches, sub stantially as herein described.

5. The stationary j aw-bcaring bar, the plates secured thereto and having notched upper surface, and the movable jaw-bearing bar having transversely-projccting pins, in combinationwith an operating-lever having a bifurcated and hook-shaped lower end and pins 15, a pawl pivoted within the lever, a second lever and connection for operating the pawl,a spring, and the oppositely-arranged ratchets, substantially as herein described.

6. The combination, with the stationary j awbearing bar, of the plates m, the C-shaped plates, the tempered-steel blocks G, having a projecting lip inclosed by the plates a, and the bolts or screws for detachably securing the steel plates, substantially as herein described.

7. In a cable-railway grip, the combination, with the stationary jaw-bearing bar and the cross-bar secured thereto, of a carrier or support for said grip, comprising yokes pivoted in the ends of said cross-bar, the angle-iron plates f, the elliptical interposed spring, and the tie-plates, and securing-nuts, substantially as herein described.

HENRY CASEBOL'I.

IIO 

